Mondaini gets four-game suspension for Morales tackle

MLS fans are sure to have something to talk about over the water coolers now; and it has nothing to do with Wednesday’s night’s action throughout the league.

The league’s Disciplinary Committee decided to ban Chivas USA’s Marcos Mondaini a total of four games and levy fines worth US$1,500 for his red-card challenge from behind that broke two bones in the ankle of one of the league’s top stars, Javier Morales.

This comes just hot on the heels of the decision to ban Colorado’s Brian Mullan 10 games for his studs-up challenge that broke the leg of Seattle’s Steve Zakuani.

So, why the big difference in suspensions? No doubt, fans of RSL and those who go on about MLS being a thuggish league will start drawing comparisons to the confusing and inconsistent handed down by NHL discipline czar Colin Campbell.

Mondaini did come at Morales from behind, but the Argentine star was cutting across the top of the box, getting set to shoot. Mullan came at Zakuani near the sidelines, nowhere near the goal. The ball was at Morales’s feet. That wasn’t the case with Zakuani.

And, Mullan wasn’t repentant after the game.

Another big consideration are the salaries of the players involved. According to the stats provided by the MLS Players’ Union, Mullan was scheduled to make just a few bucks under US$200,000 in 2011. Mondaini was set to make just US$45,000.

You could argue that a four-game chunk out of a guy making $45K is just as severe as taking 10 games out of the $200K salary. It’s an argument based on how the salaries relate to each other — that with Mondaini and Mullan, you are dealing with apples and oranges.